Wedding Post 1 of Who Knows

Shawn and I have been engaged for about 2 months, and we’ve made some serious progress for wedding planning. I’m not sure how, but some things are coming together pretty easily and we couldn’t be more pleased. Per the typical timelines, the following should be done in the 9-12+ months mark:

Choose a wedding site – done! We picked the SD Botanic Garden. One of only two places we considered and it will be for both ceremony and reception.

Choose a wedding date – done! We did that when we picked the site.

Decide a wedding budget – done! eh…won’t share that, but you can bet I will be doing my best to stick to it

Hire a wedding consultant – done! We did when we hired our DJ

Hire a DJ – done!

Shop for a wedding gown – done! Actually, I bought it already…will post pics closer to the date

Schedule a gown fitting – done!

Hire an officiant – done!…well almost. A few things to do with that, but then will be done

Hire a caterer – ok…you got us, we have to still do that

Hire a photographer – you got us there too

Pick a bridal party – done!

Create a guest list – done!

9 out of 11 isn’t so bad. If you’re still interested, check out the Pinterest Board I made. It’s actually got my solidified (or almost solidified) details…minus the dress. We cannot be posting ALL the spoilers.

Anyone out there planning? Consider this:

Relinquish any notion that planning and the actual wedding will be perfect. Shawn and I came to an agreement that as much as we’re striving to keep it perfect for us, no wedding is ever fully “perfect.” It lifted a huge weight off our shoulders . If something goes wrong, we will work together to fix it and probably laugh it all off.

Start planning EARLY, but allow yourself some time to marinate in ideas. I’ve heard stories and seen people pull off weddings in 6 months or less, BUT, if you have the time, you can certainly stretch out your planning and start thinking of all the creative things you’d like at your wedding. At our point in the planning, I’m sure we can take a 2 month break if we wanted to. (Truthfully, that isn’t my style though. My “in the meantime” strategy is to consider all my back-up plans and take care of all the smaller details).

I’ve been calling this “The Big 5” since we started planning…based on advice from friends and what we’ve noticed, the 5 most important things in your wedding are (also it’s what guests most remember): 1-your venue, 2-the bride’s dress, 3-your photographer, 4-BOOZE, and 5-catering or your DJ (whichever you decide is most important). Your budget can certainly take a hit off The Big 5, so decide early what is most important and then be creative on inexpensive ways to do the rest.

Recommendations, Recommendations, Recommendations first!!! Why make yourself start at square 1 when you can start at square 5 and go off people who were actually happy with their vendors?